the day before THE day...

as all good brides and bridesmaids do, we spent friday morning getting our nails did.

i can't say enough about how amazing all these women were.

they were hilarious, extremely fun, completely understanding of me {when the stress or my own nerves reared its ugly head}, and were always ready and willing to do whatever was needed.

i feel so blessed to have shared all these moments with them.

after our nail appointment, it was time to puff all the pom poms for the reception...

under the direction of mr. lesley's aunt carol (now my aunt too:), we puffed our little hearts out.

{i have to take a moment to say how amazing our aunt carol was throughout this whole process. she worked tirelessly to make our vision for the day 1,000 times better than we could have ever imagined it. she was beyond wonderful and coordinated all the decorations perfectly.}

it was so amazing for me to look around the room and see so many amazing women working and helping and laughing together. 

it was such a beautiful sight.

and of course, it wouldn't have been complete without a jumping picture.

we rewarded ourselves by taking a trip down to the beach once all the pom poms were successfully puffed.

did you know michigan had such beautiful beaches? 

and before we knew it, it was time for the rehearsal!

all my girls together in one place. 

aren't they beautiful?

with all the busyness of the weekend, it was so good to finally see mr. lesley when we arrived at the beach.

my sister took the reigns and we were ready to go...

and the sand was HOT...like crazy hot.

i think i might have lost a layer of skin on my feet that afternoon.

what rehearsal is complete without a bay watch run?

after a couple run throughs we were as ready to go as we could possibly be:)

{you never can really be totally ready for a wedding, right?}

for our rehearsal dinner, mr. lesley's mom had a fabulous idea to have our dinner at a bowling ally that had great pizza and mini putting! 

we didn't have to even think about it.

it was totally us, and we were in. 

after much deliberation, i decided to give my girls this and this (a different pattern for each of them).

picking out bridesmaids' gifts is not an easy task, but...

all the girls liked them, so i was happy:) 

mr. lesley gave all his guys pipes, and they were definitely a hit.

 after dinner, speeches, and gift giving to all the special people who had done so much for us, 

half of the group headed out to the green...

and the other half hit the lanes.

the night was made complete when four of my favorite college homegirls made it! 

they came all the way from california, oregon, iowa, and tennessee just to celebrate with us.

i meant so much to me to have them there.

i also loved having some of my family there who came all the way from texas!

before i knew it, it was time to say goodbye to my love...

and pick up some last minute necessities:)

my last night as a single lady was spent having quality porch time, listening to this incredible, heartfelt toast by one of the most amazing people in the universe, and watching bridesmaids with my favorite girls.

{and like always, i fell asleep only minutes after the movie started}.

i couldn't have asked for anything better.